[suburbanite]

Ya where is this mythical country where they got a hold of the pandemic early on and then led economically unobstructed lives for the next 2 years?

Places that went zero-Covid implemented the strictest lockdowns in modern history, and still face Covid waves as inevitable mutations of the virus occur across the globe.

Places that went hybrid like the U.K. or most parts of Canada faced restrictions of varying degrees for the better part of two years while having case counts continually bounce up against the capacity limits of the healthcare system.

The most "let er rip" jurisdictions in the U.S. faced the highest death counts in the Western world, but also got back to leading relatively normal lives the fastest.

As far as I can tell there is no magical strategy that could keep case counts and hospitalizations low while avoiding massive top-down restrictions and business disruptions.